Good afternoon, I am sorry to report that the situation has deteriorated since I last spoke to you three days ago. Yesterday afternoon, I was briefed on the latest data showing the virus spreading more rapidly in London, the South East and the East of England than would be expected given the tough restrictions which are already in place.
More than 60,400 savers across the UK have earned their first Help to Save bonus payment, each receiving an average of £378 in time for Christmas, HMRC can reveal. Help to Save is the UK government backed saving scheme.
Emergency grants worth £11.35 million will be split between football clubs in an agreement between the Scottish FA and the Scottish Government. The funding will support clubs below Premiership level after the loss of spectator revenue due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with £10 million coming from the Scottish Government's emergency sports package that was announced earlier this month, and a further £1.35 million from the National Lottery.
Thank you for joining us. As you can imagine, the fact that I am speaking to you at 5pm on the Saturday before Christmas - having just chaired an emergency meeting of my Cabinet and spoken to the leaders of the opposition parties - suggests a serious situation, and one that requires action to be taken.
Openreach today bucked the prevailing economic trend by creating at least 275 new Scotland-based engineering jobs to be filled during 2021, alongside more roles in its supply chain. The new Openreach roles in locations across the country will enable the company to continue improving service levels across its existing networks, whilst building and connecting customers to its new, ultrafast, ultra-reliable ‘Full Fibre' broadband network at a record pace.
The Highland Council is today (17 December 2020) launching a Common Good consultation giving the Dornoch community until 12 March 2021 to respond to a proposal to dispose, by new lease, of an area of Common Good land to Royal Dornoch Golf Club (RDGC) who are the existing tenants. Also included are proposed changes of use in respect of part of the current golf course for construction of a new clubhouse and for improving access, moving the Bowling club and improved car parking.
Members at a special meeting of Sutherland County Committee this week (14 December) agreed on projects to receive funding from the Town Centre Fund for investment in Brora, Golspie and Dornoch. Earlier this month (4 November) the Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee announced that extra funding has been made available from The Scottish Government to boost town centres across the region.
The Highland council is reminding people that the Red Hot Highland Fling at Hogmanay event in Inverness will not be taking place this year. It, like all other Christmas and New Year-themed civic events including the Winter Wonderland at Whin Park and the Christmas lights switch-on parade, has been cancelled due to the ongoing Covid pandemic.
4TH GENERATION TERM CONTRACT FOR MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF THE SCOTTISH TRUNK ROAD NETWORK - NORTH WEST UNIT A9 BRORA FOOTWAY IMPROVEMENTS. INFORMATION BEAR Scotland, on behalf of Transport Scotland, will be undertaking essential footway improvements at various locations, adjacent to the A9 Trunk Road, between Dudgeon Park Road and Harbour Road in Brora.
A new digital directory of more than 100 traveltech businesses and 30 industry case studies goes live today (Friday 4 December 2020). Developed by the Traveltech for Scotland cluster, it showcases how various technologies such as online ticketing, smartphone apps and social distancing solutions can help tourism businesses in Scotland adapt and diversify in a post-COVID-19 world.
The Leader of the Council and Provost of Inverness today welcomed recent history graduate Sophie Gartshore to her role of Data Curation Graduate Placement in the Spirit of the Highlands project team. Sophie was attending her first virtual meeting of the Spirit of the Highlands Delivery Group, a group co-chaired by Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism Fergus Ewing and Cllr Helen Carmichael, Provost of Inverness and Area.
Discussions have taken place this week on what the Council's role in respect of the emerging hydrogen economy should be and how best to advance hydrogen opportunities across the Highlands. The Leader of The Highland Council met with representatives from Scottish Power to focus on hydrogen generation and this was followed by a meeting, arranged with officers from across Council services, that included a presentation by Fiona Landy from the Hydrogen Accelerator.
Scottish Enterprise (SE) today announced plans to approve large grant funding for up to 160 new company projects before the end of the financial year. Together, these projects have the potential to unlock up to £0.5 billion of investment by businesses into Scotland's economy, creating or safeguarding more than 9,000 jobs.
We hope to resolve the issues soon..
Multiple projects across Scotland have received funding in the latest round of grants from the Scottish Land Fund. The money will allow groups from both urban and rural areas to take ownership of local assets and put them to use for the benefit of their local communities.
The Highland Council is to consult on draft management rules for its 268 burial grounds across the region and crematorium located at Kilvean in Inverness. The Council has a statutory duty to manage burials, oversee memorial safety and cremations for around 1500 burials and 1200 cremations each year.
Plans for mass testing of asymptomatic students. Students travelling home at the end of term will be able to take voluntary coronavirus (COVID-19) tests through their college or university from next Monday.
Still Game star highlights valued work of the country's carers in new campaign. Carers are being urged to seek emotional and practical support through a new national campaign, delivered in partnership with Still Game's Jane McCarry.
On Monday, the Prime Minister set out the action we need to take between now and the start of December to control the spread of coronavirus. Mr Speaker, Today's Spending Review delivers on the priorities of the British people.
The Council is inviting communities to come forward with expressions of interest for projects that, if successful, could receive a share of funding aimed at supporting coastal communities throughout Highland. The Highland Coastal Communities Fund has been set up by the Council following an allocation of over £3 million from the Scottish Government of Crown Estates revenue funding.
